Care for Other Materials
Sometimes it is more than just latex...
Material Care
Caring for Your Once-in-a-Lifetime Treasures
This page offers you essential tips to help you care for these precious materials, so your unique pieces maintain their quality and charm long after the first wear. Whether it’s the supple feel of leather, the warmth of wool, the delicate touch of silk, or the timeless elegance of fur — treating them right means you can cherish your treasures for a lifetime.
Overview
Leather
Fur
Silk
Wool
Leather
Caring for Leather Products: Essential Tips for Longevity
Leather is a natural material with unique qualities you’ll want to honor to enjoy your pieces for years to come. While some signs of wear are normal and part of leather’s charm, proper care helps keep your items looking their best.
Key Points to Remember:
- Leather is a natural product. Over time, use will create subtle marks and color variations—these are not defects but a natural part of leather’s character.
- Exposure to sunlight and moisture can leave traces on leather. Regular cleaning and conditioning with appropriate products help prevent and minimize these effects.
Cleaning and Storage
- Dust and dirt can be gently wiped away with a damp cloth.
- For tougher stains, especially on smooth leather, use a suitable leather cleaner. After cleaning, you can condition smooth leather with leather balm or cream to restore its shine and suppleness, especially if the surface appears dull or matte.
- When cleaning with water, white residue (calcium deposits) can sometimes appear. To avoid this, use distilled water. Adding a little mild soap (such as pure soap flakes or curd soap) to the water can help gently lift dirt—always apply with care.
- Suede and nubuck require special brushes and cleaners designed for delicate leather. These types of leather are more sensitive to moisture, so waterproofing sprays are recommended after cleaning.
- Avoid direct water cleaning on suede. Instead, refresh it gently using steam and a suede brush.
- Store leather items in a cool, dry, and well-ventilated place at room temperature. Avoid damp environments to prevent musty odors, and keep leather away from direct sunlight to prevent fading.
Leather & Latex: Special Care Notes
- When leather is combined with latex, avoid using traditional fat-based leather conditioners on areas that touch latex, as these can damage the latex.
- Instead, use silicone oil–based leather care products or sprays designed for waterproofing and finishing, which are safe to use around latex.
- Some latex-safe oil sprays can also be used as an alternative to keep both materials protected.
Important Allergy Information
While allergic reactions to leather are rare, they can occur. The most common cause is chromium compounds used in modern tanning processes.
- Chromium-tanned leather (chrome leather) is widespread in the industry, especially for clothing, due to its efficiency and cost benefits.
- However, chromium VI compounds formed during tanning are potent contact allergens and may cause skin reactions, especially with prolonged or sweaty skin contact.
- The European Union regulates chromium VI levels, but a small risk remains.
- Symptoms can range from skin redness to more severe immune responses in rare cases.
At Se’tyo, we avoid chromium-tanned leather whenever possible, favoring more traditional and less allergenic tanning methods such as vegetable tanning, synthetic tanning, or historical tanning techniques. While these alternatives are more expensive and less efficient to produce, they offer a safer and more sustainable option.
Fur
Caring for Fur Products: Essential Tips for Longevity
At Se’tyo, some of our products feature genuine fur. Fun fact: Leipzig’s Brühl was historically one of the world’s fur trade centers — so it’s a tradition that runs deep here! Fur is a high-quality natural material, durable and relatively easy to care for when treated right. To help you enjoy your fur products as long as possible, here are some important guidelines:
Key Points to Remember:
- Genuine fur is a natural product that reacts to environmental conditions. Clean sparingly but regularly.
- Fur can be sensitive to sunlight and UV rays. Also, during storage, fur may get flattened — usually, simply hanging it loosely for a day is enough to restore its volume.
Cleaning and Storage
- Fur can generally be refreshed by shaking it out, which removes dust and helps maintain its fluffiness.
- Stains should be treated quickly before they dry. Liquids can be gently blotted with an absorbent cloth; for solid particles, a vacuum cleaner can be carefully used.
- There are special fur cleaning products that should be used sparingly. Mild shampoos, such as gentle hair shampoo diluted in water, can also be used. Avoid harsh household cleaners at all costs.
- For deeper cleaning, professional fur cleaning services are recommended — only professionals with proper training should handle these.
Store fur loosely in boxes or breathable bags, in a cool, dry, and dark place. Fur does not like heat. Never store fur in plastic bags or airtight packaging.
Additional Tips
- Fur is fairly water-resistant. If your fur gets wet, let it air dry naturally — never use heat sources like hair dryers, which can dry out hair roots and cause shedding.
- Moths can damage fur, so it’s wise to place lavender or cedarwood sachets near your fur to deter them.
- In case you find moths in your fur items, you can freeze these items, as the eggs die that way.
Allergy note:
Allergic reactions to fur are rare but possible. Typical pet hair allergies usually stem from proteins in animal saliva, which can be present on fur. Pollen can also cling to fur and aggravate allergies. Occasionally, specific fur allergies do exist.
Origin and sustainability:
We prioritize sourcing fur from accident involved animals or animal control whenever possible. We completely avoid fur from questionable or fur-farming origins. We also use second hand material, where other designers needed to get rif of it for different reasons. Animal welfare is a key factor in choosing our suppliers.
Silk
General Care Instructions for Silk Products
Silk is a luxury material in Europe, but in many Asian countries, it’s quite a standard fabric. While silk is a bit more delicate than many of us are used to, with proper care it’s not difficult to handle. These tips will help you enjoy your silk items for a long time.
Key Points to Remember:
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Silk is a natural fiber made exclusively from the cocoons of silk-spinning insects. Most cultivated silk comes from the cocoons of the Bombyx mori (the silkworm), a moth originally native to China. Silk is unique as the only naturally occurring textile filament fiber and consists mainly of protein, which makes it unusually sensitive in some respects.
- Silk is sensitive to water and sunlight, so special care is needed for washing and storage — but these challenges are easily managed.
Cleaning and Storage
- Silk should always be hand washed. Regular detergents break down the proteins in the fibers, causing colors to fade and the fabric to weaken. Use special silk detergents designed for delicate fibers.
- Never send silk to a dry cleaner without checking if they are experienced with silk — otherwise, the fabric can be damaged.
- Use lukewarm water (no hotter than 30°C / 86°F) for hand washing. Soaking briefly helps remove stains gently.
- Avoid fabric softeners completely.
- Drying is especially important to avoid water spots: after washing, hang your silk loosely while still dripping wet, drying in a shaded, well-ventilated area.
- Never use a tumble dryer or wring out silk — wet fibers are very sensitive to mechanical stress and heat.
- Ironing silk is generally not recommended; silk usually hangs out smoothly on its own.
Clothes Moths
- Clothes moths are about 9 mm long with a wingspan of 12–16 mm, typically dull orange-brown and inconspicuously marked. Moths enter rooms through open windows or by hitching a ride on clothing. They lay eggs directly on wool or silk fibers, which their larvae feed upon.
- Moths thrive at normal room temperatures (20–25°C / 68–77°F), while extreme heat, cold, or dryness can deter them.
- Larvae chew small, irregular holes with smooth edges in natural fibers. You may also find larval remains or pupae in clothing folds.
- Infested smaller items can be frozen to kill larvae and eggs; alternatively, airing them out during cold winters can be effective.
- Preventive measures include moth traps and natural repellents like lavender or sandalwood sachets between garments. Walnut leaf essential oils and mild soap may also help. Use chemical pesticides cautiously as they can cause allergies and unwanted side effects.
- Avoid direct contact of oils or sprays with silk.
- An effective biological control is using parasitic wasps (Trichogramma), which lay eggs in moth eggs; their larvae consume the moth larvae. These wasps are very small and harmless, disappearing once the moth eggs are gone. They can be purchased in pet stores.
Additional Tips
- Avoid spraying silk directly or exposing it to rain to prevent water spots.
- Do not apply deodorants, perfumes, or oils directly onto silk as they can cause stains.
- Direct sunlight or UV light quickly fades silk and weakens the fibers; store silk in dark places.
- Silk is very allergy-friendly. Its dense, smooth fibers do not trap dust easily, making it unsuitable habitat for dust mites.
- Wild silk is an exception; it can contain remnants of cocoons or other substances that might cause allergic reactions. More commonly, allergies arise from chemicals used in processing silk. If you notice allergic symptoms, consult a doctor.
- Ethical concerns exist with silk production because living insects are killed to harvest the fibers. We strive to source silk from producers using gentler, traditional methods where possible in Europe. Alternatives include some wild silks made from empty cocoons. We closely follow developments in more ethical silk production methods, though this research is ongoing. We also keep an eye on traditional and modern methods in Japan, where silk is more developed than it ever was in Europe.
Wool
General Care Instructions for Wool Products
Wool is a common material in clothing. As a natural product, however, there are some things you should keep in mind. These guidelines will help you enjoy your wool items for as long as possible. Wool has some unique characteristics that deserve attention, but ultimately caring for it is quite simple:
- Wool consists of animal hairs, most commonly sheep’s wool. When wet, wool can become rough and form knots, much like wet human hair. Wool can be washed, but it should be done gently and sparingly.
- Moths love wool and can cause significant damage to wool products. When storing wool, be generous with fragrant sachets (lavender or sandalwood) to repel pests. You can recognize moth infestation by pupae residues and often by small holes in the fabric. We will provide more tips below.
Cleaning and Storage
- Wool can be washed, but it’s best to be gentle and to air garments out whenever possible instead of frequent washing.
- Wool can also be machine washed using dedicated wool programs available on many washers. Only fill the machine halfway and reduce the spin speed to prevent felting, especially for knitted or crocheted items. Use specialized wool detergents—not regular laundry detergents.
- For hand washing, use plenty of water and dissolve wool detergent thoroughly beforehand. Gently immerse the garment without rubbing, then rinse with lukewarm water.
- Avoid hot water—25°C to 30°C is appropriate.
- Mild shampoos can also be used for hand washing.
- You can care for wool additionally with wool conditioners containing lanolin (natural wool wax), which noticeably softens the fibers.
- Avoid using tumble dryers. Woven wool items can generally be air-dried hanging, unless they are especially heavy. Usually, ironing is unnecessary.
- For complex garments such as suits, professional cleaning is advisable.
Clothes Moths
- Clothes moths grow up to 9 mm long with a wingspan of 12–16 mm. They are typically dull orange-brown and inconspicuous in markings. Moths can enter rooms through open windows or be carried in on clothes. They lay eggs directly on the larvae’s food source, i.e., wool fibers.
- Moths prefer temperatures around 20–25°C (normal room climate). Dryness, heat, and cold can deter them.
- Larvae chew small, irregularly shaped holes with smooth edges in wool fabrics. You may also find larval remains or pupae between clothing layers.
- For infestation, smaller items can be frozen to kill larvae and eggs. In winter, thorough airing often suffices.
- Preventive measures include traps and repellents. Sachets with lavender or sandalwood between clothes are particularly effective. Walnut leaf essential oils and mild soap can help too. Use chemical pesticides cautiously, as they may cause allergies or unwanted side effects.
- A special method against moths is using parasitic wasps that lay eggs in moth eggs; their larvae consume the moth larvae. These wasps disappear once there is no more food and are very small—very different from typical wasps. They can be purchased in pet stores.
Additional Tips
- In rare cases, you may be allergic to wool or lanolin. More commonly, allergies arise from substances used during wool processing. If you experience allergic reactions, it’s best to consult a doctor.
- Wool’s chemical structure allows it to absorb and release odors. Dirt penetrates the fibers with difficulty. Regularly airing and shaking wool items helps avoid frequent washing.